Wraparound student supports

Jitu Brown, National Director of the Journey for Justice Alliance, and Judith Browne Dianis, Co-Director of the Advancement Project, spoke out in a recent op-ed, calling for a return to ESEA's true purpose: ensuring equity in our nation's public schools so that all children have the same opportunities to succeed.

Federal lawmakers seem to be getting serious about a rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The OTL Campaign was proud to join over 100 grassroots community and labor groups this week to release an open letter to Congressional leaders urging them to support the development of full-service community schools, end the school-to-prison pipeline, halt federal funding for charter school expansion, and maintain the Title I program.

After months of intense organizing in Albany and across the state, education organizers in New York got a mix of victories and setbacks in the new state budget.

Chanting "We Can't Wait!" and marching through downtown Albany, over 2,000 teachers, advocates, parents, and students rallied last Wednesday for an increase in state funding for public schools. Despite a 2006 ruling from the New York state supreme court that held that New York had failed to provide public schools with adequate educational resources under the state constitution, many schools have yet to receive the required level of funding.

University of Massachusetts professor Mark Warren has published a valuable primer for understanding how our schools and students are impacted by broader inequalities in our society and how the seeds of an emerging education justice movement can take root and flourish into a political force to be reckoned with.

Following the landmark Lake View court case in Arkansas over a decade ago, the state has made huge strides in equalizing school funding and trying to give all students access to a great public education – but there's still room for improvement.

A report from the Alliance for Quality Education says NY Governor Andrew Cuomo owes New York City public schools $2,667 per student, which adds up to $2.5 billion worth of resources currently being withheld from the city's students, teachers and their schools.